Close Your Eyes and Jump
by seen-by-the-blind
Summary: It’s the summer before college, and Bella’s spending it with Renee—and Renee’s friend, Esme, her family, and some friends—at a beach house in Jacksonville. One thing’s for sure—this summer will be one never to forget. All human, all normal pairings
1. Surprises

Close Your Eyes and Jump

Close Your Eyes and Jump

**Disclaimer: All characters in this story belong to Stephenie Meyer.**

**Okay, this is my first fanfic, so if you have any advice or anything, please don't hesitate to put it on the review page. **

**Ch. 1- Surprises**

_Bella's POV_

"I'll miss you, Bells," said Charlie, giving me an awkward one-armed hug.

"You too, Dad," I answered, shrugging out of his hug. "Well...see you in two months, I guess."

"Enjoy yourself, Bells."

"Thanks Dad."

I rolled my suitcase down the halls of the airport in Seattle. What had I agreed to? I hadn't seen my mom for more than two weeks since I moved to Forks about two years ago...and every time I did see her, her never-ending energy was almost too much for me to handle.

I missed her, and she obviously missed me, but she was happy with Phil around. But this summer Phil was coaching some baseball team in San Diego and wouldn't have a second to him, let alone to Renee, so she wasn't going with him. And because she's a kindergarten teacher, she had a whole summer to spend alone.

Of course, being my mother, that was _not _going to happen. So she called up Charlie to arrange for me to stay with her for the summer. Since I haven't seen her much, and Charlie was going to be busy with work, he agreed. I'm excited, but I was really looking forward to spending the summer in Forks doing...nothing. With my mom, you need to be busy _every day. _

I grabbed a piece of gum from the pack in my pocket and chewed it while I watched the Jacksonville flight creep up the boards.

"The eleven o'clock flight to Jacksonville is leaving in twenty five minutes. The eleven o'clock flight to Jacksonville is leaving in twenty five minutes," spoke the voice on the loudspeaker.

_Well, here goes nothing, _I thought.

_**A few hours later**_

"Bella! Bella, sweetie, I'm over here!"

I looked up to see my mom waving her arms frantically. I rolled my suitcase towards her, and was caught in a back-breaking hug.

"Hi, Mom," I choked.

"Oh, honey, how are you?" she asked, releasing me.

"Fine, I guess."

"Well that's good. Oh, sweetie, I have the best news!" Her whole face brightened up, and I forced a smile. This should be interesting.

"My good friend from high school, Esme Platt—you know her, right?"

I didn't, but I nodded anyway. My mom really didn't need an excuse to tell me long, boring stories from her wild high school days.

"Well, she's Esme Cullen now, but anyway, her and her family just moved to Jacksonville!"

"Wow, that's great, Mom."

"Oh, but that's not even the best part! She invited me to stay in her house—it's this huge, _huge _house right on the bay—and I told her about you and she said you can come too! So we're gonna stay in this gorgeous house with her for the summer!"

"Wow, that's great, Mom," I said, forcing a smile. "Umm, you said 'her and her family.' Who's in her family?"

"Oh, I'm sorry I forgot! Well, it's Esme, her husband Carlisle, their kids Alice and Edward, who are sixteen and seventeen, and their friends...I forget their friends' names though."

Damn. Kids my age. Well, one thing's for sure, this summer was definitely going to be... different.

_Edward's POV_

I hated moving.

I hated packing up my stuff and watching the movers break some of my CDs. I hated leaving my old curriculum in school and then starting over with one I had already done. I hated finally being somewhere where girls have finally learned my boundaries and to _leave me alone _then be uprooted again. I hated when Alice had finally found a good mall or something like that, and then we left and she had to find a new one _again. _And somehow I always got dragged to go with her.

Basically, I hated change. Especially the moving-kind. And of course, because my father, Carlisle, keeps getting promoted to different hospitals, I've lived...hmm...in St. Louis, Houston, Philadelphia, Stanford, San Francisco, Boston, Baltimore, Nashville, Chicago, and just recently, LA. Now, because my mother, Esme, doesn't like all the obnoxious people in LA (and neither do I, for that manner) we have decided to move to Jacksonville, so Carlisle can work at a nice hospital where it's a little more low-key and Esme can have her "nicer people."

Yeah, whatever. That's not even the _best _part.

So of course Esme's running to the supermarket and sees none other than some high school classmate, Renee-something-or-another. And being the super-friendly person that she is, of _course _Esme invites Renee to stay with us at our house for the summer (since it is gigantic). And Renee says sorry, her daughter's coming for the summer, and so of courseEsme invites this Renee to bring her daughter along.

Guess how old the girl is? Seventeen, _of course._

Yeah. So this summer I'll be stuck with Alice _AND _Rosalie _AND _another hormonal, boy-crazy, shopping nut.

Oh, joy. Things don't get much better than that, right?

I sure loved surprises.

**I know it's kinda short but I was just kinda introducing Bella and Edward.**

**Again, any suggestions/advice would be great.**


	2. Introductions

**Disclaimer: Twilight and its characters belong to Stephenie Meyer.**

**A thank you to bookie11, slytheringrl17, ElementalMaster1304, and stars01 for reviewing! If you have any suggestions or whatever don't hesitate.**

**Ch. 2- Introductions**

_Bella's POV_

Ugh, my hands were sweating. I really was just plain horrible at meeting new people. Especially ones my age...that I would be living with for two months... well, actually this situation was pretty unique...

"Aren't you excited, Bella?" my mom asked, in a voice that implied that I should be excited and wasn't.

"Oh, yeah. I'm sure they're all nice." Well, the best I could really hope for was that they would leave me alone... I'm sure that wouldn't be too hard with their friends there and everything.

_Look on the bright side, Bella, _I thought. _Well, umm, at least it's at the beach? Which is good? Right?_

"They will be, sweetie, don't worry. Esme was a very nice friend of mine... I can't believe we've been out of touch all these years. Why, I remember one night when we were juniors and we were on our way home from clubbing and our car broke down..."

I gasped and laughed in all the right places, but I really wasn't listening to Renee's story about the old days. I was really thinking about what was going on back in Forks. A lot of people, like me, were going away.

Billy got this strange idea that Jacob needed to spend more time with his sisters, so he was spending the summer with Rebecca and her husband in Hawaii. And he was _not _happy about it. Apparently he and Rebecca were enemies growing up or something.

It was weird, not seeing him. Jake left for Hawaii about a week ago, so I hadn't seen him since then. We usually saw each other every day—practically lived at each other's houses—so like I said, weird. I already missed him.

Angela was away too—she was doing this foreign exchange program in France for the summer. And Mike, Jessica, Ben, Lauren, Tyler, Eric, Lee, Samantha, and Katie Marshall were on this school field trip to Washington D.C. until August.

So I guess Forks wouldn't really be an exciting place to be this summer.

"Bella? Did you hear that? Esme married a doctor. He's worked at all the best hospitals in the country," my mom said, bringing me back to the car where I was currently riding to the "gorgeous, huge, huge house" of the Cullens.

"Mmm. Interesting," I answered.

"Well, you'll get to meet him now. We're finally here!" she said, as we turned a corner. "Oh, I'm so excited! Esme and I have _so _much catching up to do!"

"Right," I said, my stomach feeling queasy.

And then I saw _it. _The Cullens' house.

It had to be the largest, most beautiful place I'd ever seen in my entire life. The front lawn was electric green, lush, and every blade of grass was _exactly _the same length. And then there were the gardens. Blueberry bushes and daisies lined up in a neat row beside sunflowers so tall they touched the windowsills. There were wooly lamb's ear and geraniums and tulips encircling a small patch of trees with exotic fruits I couldn't even name. And then there was a small patch of my favorite flower—purple irises. The smell was intoxicating.

And there was _the house._

It was a soft gray color, which somehow made the giant walls seem kind. From what I could see, the back wall of the house, the part on the bay, was made entirely of glass. Yes, the place was absolutely monstrously enormous, but it was just... beautiful.

"Wow," my mom gasped. I nodded in agreement. "Wow" didn't even seem to cut it.

"Well, I guess we should go in now," I said, eager to get these introductions over with.

"Okay," answered Renee, and we started up the steps and rang the doorbell.

Almost immediately the door was opened by a good-looking, pale woman with a heart-shaped face and billows of caramel-colored hair. She grew excited when she recognized Renee.

"Oh, Renee! I'm so glad you come make it! And this must be Bella," she said, her soft brown eyes turning to me.

"Yeah," I replied.

"Well, I'm Esme," she said. "Why don't you two come in and meet my family and some friends?"

"Alright," agreed Renee, and we followed Esme as she led us into her living room.

We entered to see six people sitting on various couches and chairs. As soon as I walked in, I saw the most beautiful boy that I had ever seen.

He had bronze hair, rumpled and just long enough to brush against his eyelashes. He was very pale, had gorgeous features, and had perfect muscles. But it was his eyes—his bright green eyes—that I couldn't look away from.

He was staring at me as well, and for a second it seemed like nothing was happening—just us looking into each other's eyes.

"Okay, everyone," said Esme, breaking us from our staring contest. "This is Renee"—she gestured to my mom—"and this is Bella"—she said, motioning to me. "Obviously you all know that they will be staying with us for the summer.

"Okay, Renee and Bella, this is Carlisle"—she pointed to a tall, blonde man—"my husband. These are Rosalie, Emmett, and Jasper"—she gestured at a stunning girl with blonde hair halfway down her back, a very muscular boy with dark, curly hair, and another boy with blonde hair—"they are some friends who are also staying for the summer. And these are Alice"—she motioned to a petite girl with short, spiky black hair that was quivering with excitement—"and Edward," she said, nodding to the breathtaking boy with the green eyes.

"Hi," I said, feeling like an idiot. They smiled though.

My breathing relaxed a little. Well, a least the introductions were over.


	3. The Dock

Disclaimer: Twilight and its characters belong to Stephenie Meyer

**Disclaimer: Twilight and all its characters belong to Stephenie Meyer.**

**Once again, thanks to everyone who reviewed! I love reviews!**

**Ch. 3- The Dock**

_Edward's POV_

"Doesn't she seem like the kinda person who will be my friend? She totally does..." I heard Alice say to Jasper, her head lying in his lap on the stairs as he stroked her hair.

I sighed. Alice, my sister, was so quick to make assumptions. We'd just met Renee and Bella about an hour ago (they were in their rooms right now) and already Alice thought her and Bella were going to be the best of friends.

"Well, it seems like she's quiet, which is good for you, since all you do is talk," I said across the room to Alice from where I was sitting on the couch.

She pulled her head out of Jasper's lap to stick her tongue out at me.

"Honestly, Alice. We don't even know the girl." _But I already know that she is gonna want me...every single girl does in the beginning..._

"You're right--" Was something wrong with my ears, or was Alice actually agreeing with me?

"—which means that I need to get to know her! The sooner the better! Right, Jasper?"

"Umm, yeah," he said, running a hand through his hair.

Ugh. He always sided with her. Girlfriend trumps best friend _every time_.

"She seemed nice enough to me. Even though her clothes were...ugh. She's pretty, but her style choices are"—she shuddered delicately—"very bad. Ahh, I love giving makeovers. Now if you'll excuse us," she said coolly, pulling Jasper's arm to behind the fridge (but still in the line of my sight) and began making out with him.

Yuck. I was really getting sick of this whole everyone's-a-couple-but-Edward-so-let's-bother-him-by-kissing-and-doing-other-things-in-front-of-him agenda. I mean, it was great having Emmett and Jasper (my two best friends) here with us for the summer, but then Alice had to bring Rosalie (her best friend) and whenever their girlfriends were around (Emmett's dating Rose) then Emmett and Jasper got all in love and would do anything Rose or Alice asked. It was annoying and, well, just plain immature. If I ever had feelings for anyone, _ever_—which to be honest, I highly doubt—I wouldn't follow them around with puppy dog eyes.

"Do you _mind_?"

"No, but thanks for your concern," said Alice, and then began sucking off Jasper's face again.

I sighed, giving up on having them stop and went up to my room. Ugh I was going to have to sort through all kinds of boxes to get to my Linkin Park CDs...

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a football flying towards me. I caught it, easily.

"Not in the mood, Em," I said, annoyed, throwing it back to him.

"Aww, come on. One little game won't hurt! And with the new girl we can _finally _have even teams," he said, looking at me pleadingly while cradling the football.

"I said no, Emmett," I replied, turning my back to walk up to my room. Of course, he threw the football at me again, and once again I caught it easily.

"Dammit, Edward! How do you always know when I'm gonna throw it? It's like you can read my mind or something."

"Right," I said, turning my back again and opening the door of my room. I could tell he was thinking about throwing the damn football _again_, so I ducked quickly into my room.

"What the...?"

A bloodcurdling shriek echoed around my room. Bella was kneeling on the floor, looking through one of my boxes of CDs. Her eyes looked like a deer's caught in headlights.

"Bella?" I asked, slightly confused as to why she was in my room. Her face turned bright crimson. She was pretty average-looking, except for her eyes. It was strange how much depth they contained, especially when brown ones were usually flat-looking.

"Oh my gosh, you scared me so badly!" Bella screeched and then she tried to stand up, but got her foot caught on something and totally wiped out.

"Sorry," I said sheepishly, trying to hold back laughter. Her expression was perhaps the funniest thing I had seen in my life. She looked so guilty. "But if you don't mind me asking, I have a question," I continued, still hovering in the doorway as she sat on the floor.

"What?" she asked, pushing a few stray hairs out of her face.

"Why are you in my room?"

"Oh, oops, sorry, I forgot. Alice sent me in here to get a CD or something...?" She seemed to get distracted at the end. Oh right, I forgot about her being a teenage girl, almost. Obviously, she was going to be obsessed with me for a while. Oh joy.

During these thoughts, Bella had stood up and headed toward the door.

"Edward, right?" she asked. I nodded in response. "I'm gonna get you back for that, FYI." I shot her a questioning look, and she sighed and said, "You know, for scaring me to death? Taking ten years off my life? Yeah, that. You'd better watch your back, that's all I'm saying."

"Is that a threat?" I laughed.

"Yes. You're _so _dead."

"Not if I get you again, first."

She laughed, "Dream on," and then walked down to her room.

I think that was the first girl that wasn't Alice or Rose that could actually form coherent sentences around me when she knew me for the first day. She probably had a boyfriend or something. It was too bad that when she told me how she felt about me that I'd have to break her little heart through the I'm-really-sorry-I-just-don't-feel-the-same-way-but-you're-really-sweet speech. I think I might actually feel a tad bit guilty about it this time.

_Bella's POV_

My first four days in Jacksonville had passed without event, besides meeting everyone the first and also getting the hell scared out of me by Edward. (I still hadn't thought of a _really _great idea for revenge, but I was working on it).

Today I woke up around like six a.m. and walked out barefoot onto the back dock. The only other person that I knew of that was awake was Alice, and I needed to _escape _from her.

During the past few days, Alice had been really nice to me (Causing Rosalie to glare...often). However, she was a style diva and honestly thought everyone should be that way. Especially me. I've only known her for _four days _and I already caught her in my closet in the early morning trying to throw away my "ridiculous non-designer clothes" (her quote, not mine).

After I made a point that that was _not okay_, Alice grumbled and moped for a little while but then decided that I could keep my old clothes but she would get me new outfits anyway. She's already attempted to give me a makeover several times but I have somehow gotten away every time. Thank God. Overall, though, I could tell we were going to be friends.

I loved the early morning here in Jacksonville. I've always been a morning person, so I get up, throw on shorts and a t-shirt and put my hair in a ponytail, (you don't want to _know _Alice's reaction to that look) and then go outside without socks or shoes and sit on the dock with my feet in the water.

Today was no different than any other day here. I had just sat down and was making little circles in the bay with my toes when I heard something.

I turned around to see Edward strolling down the dock.

"Hey," I said. "Were you planning on getting me now?"

"I didn't know you were going to be out here, actually," he answered. "Otherwise I would've prepared."

"Well, that's good for me I guess," I said. We were quiet for a moment.

"It's kind of interesting," he said at last. "We're plotting different ways to kill each other, but honestly we don't know much about each other besides our names."

"Yeah," I agreed. "But before we get into that, I was just wondering something."

"What?" he asked.

"Is Alice always so annoying?" I said, glancing up at the window on the second floor that Alice was banging on excitedly, motioning me to come up.

He chuckled. "Yes, she is, unfortunately."

"Ugh. Just wondering, again—did your parents ever teach her the meaning of 'no'?"

He chuckled again. "I don't think so. If they did, she wasn't listening. But she is a great sister."

"You and your family seem really close," I said quietly.

"We are. All the moving around, I suppose, unites you with the people you're with the entire time, you know? But we consider Emmett and Jasper and Rose to be part of our family. They move around with us, usually, since Jasper and Rose—they're brother and sister, if you didn't know—are orphans. And Emmett always has been kinda independent fro his parents. They weren't very good to him at all."

"That's sad."

"Not really. That's just how things are for them. They've accepted it, and that's all that matters, right?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"So you're really close with your mom? You two seem to have a connection or something."

"I guess you could say that. She was like, my best friend growing up. I still tell her everything. And before Phil, I used to sort of take care of her. She's pretty scatter-brained and doesn't really know how to be a mom, since she didn't have a very good one herself. I've just always been the one to take care of things."

"How old are you, Bella?" he asked suddenly.

"Eighteen," I answered, confused by the question.

"You don't seem eighteen."

We were silent for a few moments, till I finally thought of something to say.

"So, umm, what is it that you're going to college for? Esme said that you're going in September, like me."

"Medicine," he replied quietly. "I'm going to be a brain surgeon."

"Wow. What do you like the most about it?"

He didn't answer for a little while. I wondered if I had said something wrong.

Finally, he said, "I'm not sure, really. I'm mostly doing it for my father. It's what...what he really wants me to do."

I nodded. "Oh."

"So what are you going for?"

"I'm going for Literature. I want to be a writer. Like novels and things like that."

"That's interesting."

We were quiet for a little while after that, the only sound the water being swirling around by our bare feet. I felt so comfortable being around him, even when we weren't talking. He seemed to understand me—or at least take the time to try to—unlike a lot of people I knew.

"Bella! _Bella!_"

Leave it to Alice to ruin a moment.

"Well, I should probably see what she wants," I said, attempting to stand up, but then slipping slightly.

"Whoa. Easy there," he said, steadying me.

"Thanks," I said and headed up to the house.


	4. Getting Ready

Disclaimer: Twilight and its characters belong to Stephenie Meyer

**Disclaimer: Twilight and all its characters belong to Stephenie Meyer.**

**Sorry this took so long. It was kinda a weird chapter to write, so I hope its okay. Suggestions + reviews on this chapter and the story in general would be great (:**

**Ch. 4- Getting Ready**

_Bella's POV_

"_What _Alice?"

She shot me a look.

"Bella, this is important." I sighed. Even though I'd only known Alice for a few days, I was sure about one thing—many of the things that were important to her were not important to me. And vice versa.

"Jasper is taking me to the charity ball tonight..." she trailed off, probably for "effect." That was the kind of thing she got mad at when I asked why she did it.

"...And I have NOTHING to wear!" Judging by the enormous closet with its doors thrown open and outfits jammed inside to fit, I was within reason to question this.

"Alice, umm, your whole closet's full of things to wear. And the date's not till tonight..."

"Bella, this is not _some date. _This is a _ball_. There are only three a year—one at Christmastime, one at the start of summer, and one at the end of summer. Do you realize how big this is?"

"Umm, big?"

"Yes. _Very _big," she said, very serious. I rolled my eyes and sighed.

"I saw that. And besides, you can't blow it off. You're coming too," she said matter-of-factly.

"What?" I gasped. "You can't be serious!"

"Well I am," she said with a grim expression on her face. "And Renee already said you would go." She pulled out her phone and started texting someone (probably Jasper) as she said the next part. "We, umm, always go, because of Carlisle. We always get invited to these things because he gives so much money to charities. This charity has the biggest ones though. And he says that 'in our current times no one has a good party anymore' or something like that. I forget." She put her phone away before saying the next part. "But I don't really care the reason. It's an excuse for a great dress!" she exclaimed, clapping her hands together.

"Why has no one told me about this?" I said disgruntled. Alice merely shrugged, unbothered.

"Well, I've told you now," she said, and then a horrified look came over her face. "Oh, no! Now I have to find a dress for you and me _all before seven tonight!" _She made this sound like she had to walk to Africa or build a time machine before seven. I sighed (I'd been doing that a lot lately).

"Alice. Relax. It is"—I checked the clock on her bureau—"6:57 in the morning, okay? _You have time._"

Her breathing, which had been edging towards hyperventilation, eased slightly.

"Well," she gulped, and then becoming perky again, "I guess I should start now!"

"Right," I said under my breath. "Of course."

It became an all day event, to my great displeasure. Apparently everyone in this house was having a wardrobe malfunction, and we had to go to the mall. It was a very painful experience.

"Definitely not your shade."

I sighed. This was about the hundredth dress I'd tried on, and still, even though some were declared "I'll have to hold onto that," the _perfect _dress for me seemed very hard to come by. (Alice's only took two hours. I hadn't actually seen "the one"—she wanted it to be a surprise). Finally, _finally_, I tried on a strapless pale blue dress that went a few inches past my knee. It was one of the few that fit my rules—nothing too revealing, nothing that made it look like I had more cleavage than I actually did, nothing too short, nothing too long—that I actually liked.

_Please, please, let Alice agree to this one. _I stepped out of the dressing room.

"Oh my God, Bella, that's the one. Hell, I'd even go as far to say that you look..._sexy._"

"Umm, thanks? Can we please go home now? Please?"

"Okay, okay," she said picking up her multiple bags. "Let's just check out first."

"Okay," I agreed.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so excited! I get to do your hair and makeup!"

"Great," I said under my breath.

_Edward's POV_

"Where were you?"

"What?" I asked, disoriented, rubbing my hands through my hair.

Emmett, who was wearing a tux, pointed to his watch, while Jasper, who was in an unbuttoned shirt, tie and jeans, shook his head.

"We have that thingy today! We were supposed to leave ten minutes ago—with the girls--and you're in boxers!" Emmett said impatiently. I looked down. Oh yeah, I was.

"What 'thingy'?"

"You know...that thingy! Umm, Jasper what's it called?" Emmett asked in the same impatient tone.

"Umm, that charity ball you mean? For that health care charity...I forget what it's called..." Jasper said, trailing off as he walked back to his room.

"Yeah!" Emmett said, cutting him off. "Why aren't you ready?"

"I fell asleep," I answered. I hadn't slept last night...at all.

"Edward!" Emmett said disparagingly.

"Sorry," I said, yawning. "What's the big deal anyway?"

"The big deal is that I saw the freakin' dress Rose is gonna wear...and it was so damn sexy even _off _her body! Imagine how it looks _on_!"

"I don't think you can handle that, Em," laughed Jasper as he emerged in the hallway, his shirt now buttoned and his jeans replaced with black pants. "You may have to take it off again."

I grimaced while Emmett smirked. "My self-control pretty much sucks."

"So does mine," added Jasper, pulling on his suit coat. "And we are officially thirteen minutes late now, for the record."

"Ugh! Move your ass Edward!"

Emmett's pain (the fact that if we come to this event late we have to stay later) was very clear on his face. Even though it was fun to watch, I really didn't want to stay longer than necessary either. These charity events that we were always forced to go to were the low points of my year. While all us guys claimed to hate these, I simply _despised _them. Partially because Emmett, Rose, Alice, and Jasper disappeared before ten (to do some 'things' as they called it) but mostly because I am basically always single and therefore whenever a lady asks to dance with me (or hints, then I ask, but only if she's pretty...those are usually the airheads though, so I've stopped doing that) I accept. Usually, no so far it has _always _been complete torture. Is it so impossible for a girl to be pretty, smart, and have a good personality? It seemed like it.

"Edward!"

"Okay, okay, Em," I said, walking into my room and getting ready for the hell of a night I was about to experience.

_Bella's POV_

I could barely breathe with the hairspray fumes surrounding my head.

"Alice, I can't breathe," I coughed, waving my hand in an attempt to get the aerosol away from my face.

"Sorry. Okay. My work is done. And if I may say so myself, it's fabulous," she said, smiling. "Now I have to get ready. Don't touch your hair okay? It's still wet. And don't you _dare _rub your eyes. Your eye makeup is"—she paused to admire her work—"perfect."

"Thanks, Alice."

"No problem. Now go off somewhere while I get ready."

I ended up going downstairs and picking up _Sense and Sensibility _from a table in the living room and began to read it. Suddenly, I became aware that I wasn't alone.

I looked up, and saw Rosalie standing at the bottom of the steps, looking gorgeous of course. She was wearing a scarlet dress with a neckline that plunged to her waist and her blonde hair was in an elegant twist on her neck. She was wearing a strappy pair of scarlet high heels that would be a death sentence for me, but made her look even more elegant. I sighed.

I wondered what I should say to her. We weren't on great terms or anything, but it wasn't like we were enemies or something.

"Umm, hi?" I said, making it sound like a question. I could feel my face turning bright red.

"Oh, hey, Bella. I didn't see you there," her voice was quiet and musical. For some reason I felt slightly wary of her, even though her expression looked kind.

"Yeah, so..." I began. She held up her hands to stop me.

"Look, Bella, I know we don't really know each other that well, so you don't have to feel compelled to make small talk. We didn't really get off on a great start did we?"

"Not quite," I agreed, laughing nervously. She laughed—it sounded like a chorus of bells.

"Well, sorry," she said, as her phone started ringing. "Hello...? What? No, I...yes, but..." she said into it, and began walking down the hall, her voice becoming more intense as she seemed to argue with someone.

Just then, Alice materialized at the bottom of the steps. She looked absolutely gorgeous in a sleek, shimmery, silver dress cut just above her knee. It showed too much cleavage for my taste, but it worked on Alice.

"Don't take it personally. She's an intern for a fashion magazine you wouldn't know the name of, and she always has to take calls," she said matter-of-factly.

"Oh, okay."

"Yeah, okay. Well, we're running late, and I think the guys have already left," she said in one breath. "We _need _to go _now._"

"One sec. I left my phone in my room," I replied. "Just go without me. I'll drive myself."

"Okay. Bye Bella!" she said, pecking my on the cheek and sweeping out the door with Rose (still on the phone) at her side.


	5. Ditched

Disclaimer: Twilight and its characters belong to Stephenie Meyer

**Disclaimer: Twilight and its characters belong to Stephenie Meyer.**

**Thanks for the reviews! I really appreciate it. This chapter's short, cause the next one will be pretty long. Advice and reviews would be great.**

**Ch. 5- Ditched**

_Bella's POV_

While I was grabbing my phone, I saw my Converses, and didn't even think twice about it. Whenever I go to parties, I usually leave early, usually wearing sneakers. I really hate parties, for some reason, it's just like an added stress to have fun. And parties aren't fun.

As I was grabbing my keys, Edward appeared at the bottom of the steps, putting on a tie. He was so darn good-looking it made my stomach hurt. I tried to keep a normal face though, and I think I succeeded.

"Dammit!" he said, looking around.

"What?" I asked.

"Oh hey," he said, obviously just realizing I was there. "Nothing, just..." he ran a hand through his hair. "Emmett and Jasper left without me. I thought they were kidding about leaving in my car but I guess they weren't..."

I tried to think of a witty response, but all I ended up with was "Oh."

"Yeah. What about you? The girls ditch you, too?"

I smiled. "Something like that. Except they didn't take my car..." Then, without thinking about it, I said, "Oh, do you want a ride?" We didn't really know each other at all, but we _were _going to the same place.

"Yeah, that'd be great, if you don't mind."

"Oh yeah, no problem."

_Edward's POV_

Everything in the past two hours seemed like a blur, but somehow I had ended up alone with Bella Swan in her faded red Chevy. Even though she had been relatively friendly and hadn't fallen all over me yet, I was still bracing myself. It was habit.

I looked over to see her drumming her fingers on the steering wheel as we stopped at a red light. She was pretty, in a strange way. She wasn't perfect, like Rose, but her face was interesting, something that caught your eye. Her eyes, like I had noticed before, seemed to have bottomless depths.

She caught me staring at her, and immediately looked down, blushing. Her blush reminded me that I still hadn't "got" her yet. Tonight would be great for that...I already had her pegged as the uncoordinated type, the kind where just walking in high-heels was difficult, let alone dancing in them.

Suddenly I noticed that I had stayed quiet much longer than normal people do. (I'm rather comfortable with silence).

"Thanks again for this," I said, gesturing around. However, secretly, I wished that she had already left. I didn't want her to think she had gotten to know me better and officially could sleep with me or something and also now I had no excuse not to go to this stupid ball or whatever.

"Like I said--no problem."

"Right." We were both quiet, trying to think of something to say. Bella came up with it first.

"Crap!" she moaned, as the car came to a stop on a deserted road. "Why the hell does this always happen at the worst times?" she said, throwing up her hands and getting out of the car.

"What?" I said, confused, getting out of my side.

"My truck can be a bit..." she trailed off. "Okay, well, basically, it just stops working sometimes. The only person I know that can fix it is my friend Jake..." she bit her lip. "And he's in Hawaii right now."

"So what does this mean?"

She was silent for a moment. "Basically it means that my truck isn't going anywhere anytime soon."

I sighed and pulled out my cell phone. Of course. No reception.

"Where even are we?" Bella asked after a few moments.

"No idea," I answered. "The people that are holding this thing live in like the middle of nowhere."

"Well," she said climbing into her trunk, doing God-knows-what. She emerged holding a pair of sneakers. "That"—she pulled on the right one—"just"—she pulled on the other one—"sucks."

I laughed. "Yeah. It does."

"I guess we should try and find somewhere we can call a tow truck or something?" she said quietly.

"Yeah," I agreed.

I imagined we must have looking quite funny—two teenagers, one a tall guy in a tux and the other a brown-haired girl with a pale blue dress and Converses.


	6. Perfect

**Disclaimer: Twilight and all its characters belong to Stephenie Meyer.**

**Sorry this took so long—I've had terrible writer's block. Thanks for still reading and reviewing anyway!**

**Ch. 6- Perfect**

_Bella's POV_

Neither of us had spoken for a while. I was trying to think of something to say that was a) witty b) interesting or c) just not stupid. Edward's continued silence was not helping—he was acting like I wasn't even there.

I mean, it wasn't like we were friends or anything. His behavior on the dock today—had it actually been today?—was very abnormal compared to the way he'd treated me to rest of the time I'd been here. Mostly he treated me like someone that he had no interest in at all yet was still planning to force him into bed (i.e. in the truck earlier). Somehow, despite this, he remained polite on the surface.

It was still silent—and he was watching me with that bizarre expression. Ugh, why did I have to have my truck break down with _him_? If it had been Alice or Emmett they would've made it fun by now. I hated when people thought I was something that I wasn't. I really don't think I look like the stripper-sleeper-slut type. I don't even wear _makeup, _for crying out loud! It was beyond irritating.

Yes, that's what it was. Edward Cullen was nothing but an irritating guy that I would somehow have to live with for the rest of my stay here. I would just ignore him, and I trusted that he would do the same.

Somewhere, deep down, though, my heart was screaming in protest. Okay, so I thought he was gorgeous—big deal. I knew that already, anyway. But just because he was attractive didn't mean that he was a good person. However, for some reason he seemed...perfect to me. I wondered why this was. He certainly hadn't treated me perfectly.

I felt bad judging him and his actions, considering I hardly knew him. I could be misinterpreting them entirely. _At the end of tonight I'll judge him—after however long we'll be in the middle of nowhere, I'll know, _I thought.

Well, if I was going to decide what he was like tonight, we had better start talking. Once again, I tried to think of something to say. All I knew about him was that he was close to his family and was going to college for medicine. Not a lot to talk about, considering I know hardly anything about either.

"So..." I finally uttered, for lack of anything else to say. He nodded, kicking a stone, waiting for me to begin a conversation. Staring at his perfect face, I lost my train of thought entirely. For a second I just stood there, dazed. Then I realized that he was still walking and somehow my brain told my feet to move.

"Yeah?" he asked quietly, still waiting for what I was going to say. Crap, what was I going to say? Somehow, my first thought just flew out of my mouth. I was surprised—I usually had better control over that kind of thing.

"What's it like being perfect?"

He looked at me, dumbfounded. "You think I'm perfect?" he asked.

"Well, you seem like you are," I replied.

"I'm not perfect," he muttered, almost too low for me to hear.

"Why not?" I pressed.

"Nobody is," he answered, but somehow I got the feeling there was more to this than he was letting on. He suddenly began walking faster, so I almost had to run to catch up.

"What aren't you telling me?" I asked, squinting at his face. He sighed.

"Bella, stop being so damn perceptive," he said, his face serious.

"Edward, stop being so damn secretive," I mocked, using the same tone. It sounded pretty pathetic to me, but he laughed. I nudged him playfully. "Come on, please?"

"Look, Bella, if I tell you something you have to swear not to tell anyone, okay?" he said, all hint of joking gone.

"Okay, I swear." I even made a little cross over my heart for effect.

"The reason I'm so far from perfect is...well, I've been in jail and used to do drugs and failed ninth grade." He said the last part all in one breath.

"Umm, could you talk a little slower? And explain, please?" I asked.

"Okay," he replied, defeated. He had obviously hoped that was all the explanation I would want. "Well, I'm really into music, if you didn't know. Which you most likely didn't. Anyway, I used to play the keyboard in this amazing band called Midnight Sun." He sighed, remembering.

"Well, we were really good. We played all the time. The other band members—James, Victoria, and Laurent—became my family when I was fifteen and sixteen. And they weren't, well, exactly, the best influences for me. They were wild—the never seemed to stop partying, except when we were playing. And then, well, I got sucked into it." He took a deep breath, and continued. "We _always _got drunk. God, I slept with _so _many girls, and I only remember about five of their names. And we, James especially, loved pot. Actually, I hated it at first, but then, you know, you get addicted."

We both weren't looking at each other, just staring off into space.

"And when you're always doing something wrong, eventually you got caught. James, Victoria, and Laurent got sent to jail. I stayed for one night, but since I was only sixteen I got sent to rehab and a detention center," he said. "I hadn't seen my family—my _real _family—in so long. And then Carlisle visited me and said something I'll never forget: 'Edward, I know you can still turn yourself around' and I was relieved, actually. I felt like I had missed my chance so long ago. All the rest of my family had sort of given up on me. But Carlisle never did—he still hasn't. That's why I'm going to be a brain surgeon. After all he's given me; I deserve to make him happy."

"Wow," I breathed.

"Yeah," he answered, obviously embarrassed now that he had shared all that with me.

"You didn't have to tell me that, if you didn't want to, you know," I whispered.

"I know."

"Okay," I answered. I really didn't know what to say to follow his little speech of his past that totally came out of the blue.

"You don't know what to say, do you?" he asked, echoing my thoughts, after a tense minute.

"Yeah," I admitted.

"So...I'm not perfect," he said, summing up the strange conversation.

"Well, you act like you are. That's the same, usually," I replied.

"Not really. Appearances are far from reality most of the time. The people who look like they have it all together are usually the ones that don't."

"What would you do if you could live through it again?" I asked quietly.

"Well, I would do it differently, obviously. But not that much different. My...experiences then have made me who I am. I've never really been afraid of taking chances. You have to—that's life. I took one when James offered me a spot in Midnight Sun and somehow, it put me on a long, winding road that got me here."

I looked at him, awed. Because as much as I wished I could be like that, it would never happen. Sure, I had never done anything _really _wrong, but that was because whenever there was a chance, any kind, I waited for it to pass. That's what made Edward and me different. And I would do everything that he had done wrong just to get the confidence and bravery to take a chance for once in my life.

_**About two hours later**_

"What was your most embarrassing moment?"

We had gotten past the whole philosophical stuff a few hours ago and now were asking each other questions—the kind you ask for the "truth" part of Truth or Dare. Surprisingly, we already knew a lot about each other. Unfortunately, though, the more we got to know each other the harsher the questions got.

"Oh, God, do I have a choice about answering?" I pleaded.

"None at all. But I'll answer your next question."

"Fine, but you better not laugh. In sixth grade, you know that rope you have to climb? Well, somehow I made it almost to the top and then of course, I fall, get knocked out, and break my nose. In front of the whole class." We made eye contact and he started cracking up.

"No laughing. You promised." He composed his face with some difficulty.

"My turn. Okay..." I needed a really good one. "What was your last girlfriend like?"

"Well, I met her at rehab. Her name was Tanya, she was strawberry blonde, and only a few inches shorter than me. We slept together a few times...nothing serious though. I haven't really met anyone since we broke up."

_We slept together a few times...nothing serious though..._God, I was still a virgin. And I've only ever kissed one person and it was dare! But Edward slept with someone a few times and it wasn't serious? What _was _serious?

Just then Edward finally spotted something.

"Look!" he exclaimed. Sure enough, we could see lights and hear faint music in the distance.

We started walking faster as the house where the party was came into view. Before we knew it we were at the edge of the party.

"Now I've heard of fashionably late, but I think we crossed that three hours ago," he said.

"Yeah," I agreed. "Also, our attire is not quite...looking so good," I said, starting out in a snobby English accent but ending laughing. I was wearing sneakers with my dress and my hair and makeup were a mess. Edward had got his sleeve ripped off by a branch and looked ridiculous.

"What do you say if we...skip this party?" he asked.

"I really don't mind at all," I answered quickly. He smiled—in the four hours we had been walking we really got to know each other—he knew I hated parties, gifts, shopping, attention, and oceans and pools (I can't swim). I knew he hated school (so easy for him), country music, sluts, and shopping.

"Okay, then." We headed away from the scattered drunk people in fancy clothes to a bench in the owner's gardens which were basically shabby compared to the Cullens', and full of large fountains with sculptures of naked women in the center.

"Attractive decorations," I noted. He snorted. I was suddenly very aware of how close he was to me. I started to say something, but I stopped when a sly grin came over his face. "What?" I asked.

"You know, Bella," he began. I felt shivers climb up my neck when he said my name. "I still haven't 'gotten' you yet."

"Gotten me?" I asked, confused.

"If you recall, you scared the life out of me when you were looking through my CD's a few days ago...and I told you I would get revenge."

"Oh," I said, remembering. "No, wait, you scared me!"

"Look, you scared me too, okay?"

"Okay," I answered suspiciously. "Why?"

"Well, I think I'm going to get you now."

"What? No—" I began, but he had already lifted me up and was supporting my weight easily with just his arms over a fountain. "You wouldn't," I said darkly.

He smiled a crooked smile that made me blink rapidly, trying to keep my thoughts clear.

"Obviously, Bella, you don't know me very well."

And he let go.

I landed in the fountain, my whole body engulfed in water. I came up spitting water out of my mouth. I tried to give him the evilest glare I could muster, so of course he got hysterical.

"Not funny," I said, stepping out of the fountain and wringing out my dress. Of course, this just made him laugh even harder. "Alice is going to kill me, you know," I told him.

He actually looked apologetic. "Sorry about that. Please forgive me?" His eyes seemed to smolder.

"Er, what?" I asked.

"Please forgive me."

I sighed. For some reason I couldn't find it in me to stay mad at him. "Okay. You're forgiven. But that was mean."

"Sorry," he said, smiling.

"Well, now I'm soaking wet," I said, stating the obvious.

"I've noticed."

"Yeah, well, I really have to pee."

"Oh...well, I guess you're just going to have to go in, then."

"Crap," I said quietly, and walked into the house. Obviously, I got many stares and whispers, but luckily there was a bathroom near the door I went in. (This house had really weird bathrooms. They were like public ones—with stalls and a row of sinks and everything. I guess when you're rich you can buy weird stuff and no one will care). Of course, I was _not _prepared for who I saw when washing her hands when I walked in.

"Bella! What the hell happened to you?! Your dress..." Alice broke off, too horrified to finish.

"You don't even want to know," I laughed. She looked at me darkly.

"Look, my truck broke down like a few miles ago. Can you drive me to a gas station or something?"

"Fine," she said. "But we're going back to the house first. _No one _is going to see that dress."

I sighed. Alice will be Alice.

_Edward's POV_

Tonight, I had shared my entire past—I have no idea why—with some girl.

Okay, Bella wasn't "some girl." She was different. She wasn't like the rest of them—slutty, flirtatious, stupid, drunk—she was something else entirely. And I didn't really mind spilling my secrets with her, because she understood, because she _listened._ I hadn't realized how few girls did that until she actually did. I wondered what would happen now. Because after what had happened tonight, we were something likefriends.

Me and the girl I thought was a hormonal, boy-crazy, shopping nut, _friends._

Life can be so odd sometimes.


End file.
